Betrayed (Soldiers of Darkness MC Book 2) by Michelle Betham Read Free Book Online Page A

Izzi? No. I don’t. But to get her back I have to push her away first. And, yeah, I know that sounds like some crappy kinda reverse psychology, and I don’t usually go in for that kinda shit but the obvious ain’t gonna work here. I can’t risk pulling this club apart ‘cause I need to get my V.P.’s old lady back in my bed. It’ll happen. In time. She’ll come to me. But I gotta push her away first. Trust me, it’s gonna work. But right now I got other things to do; wheels to set in motion because a lot of things are gonna change around here. This is my club, and I’m gonna start running it my way. A way I hope Cooper would’ve been proud of.
    I head into the chapel and close the door behind me. All my brothers are sitting around the table, waiting to hear what I’ve gotta say, and I ain’t sure how they’re gonna take this. But they’re gonna listen.
    ‘Y’all know how much this club means to me, right?’
    I look around the table as I sit down, leaning forward and clasping my hands together.
    ‘It means everything. It gave me a fucking life, for Christ’s sake. But it ain’t always been a good place. Me and my brothers back in North Carolina, we ain’t always done good things. I was born into this world, it’s all I know, all I was brought up to do. But people change. Even people like me.’
    ‘D’you wanna get to the point, Mack, only, Cora’s on stage in an hour and I think there’re a few of us here who’d like to get down to Six to witness her twisted shit.’
    I throw Zeb a look when I really just wanna break his fucking jaw, but I’m trying to be nice here. I can do nice. I just don’t always want to. ‘People change. And I want this club to change. Which is why I want us to move away from that outlaw image…’
    ‘You fucking kidding me?’ Zeb laughs and, yeah, my fist’s itching to connect with that perfect jaw line. ‘What’re you saying, Mack? Suddenly being a one percenter ain’t good enough no more?’
    ‘Jesus, boss, you going fucking soft on us?’ Hal joins in. ‘You want us to become the kinda club that organizes summer fetes and yard sales and…’
    I slam my fist down hard on the table, and that shuts ‘em up. ‘No-one’s going fucking soft, y’hear me? And no-one’s talking about turning this club into the kinda place your mom could hang out in…’
    ‘Then what are you talking about?’ Hal asks. ‘’Cause I didn’t come here to sell raffle tickets to old ladies.’
    ‘We got legitimate businesses round here. We got shit we can work on that don’t nececcsarily involve us risking our freakin’ lives every time we set foot outside this clubhouse.’
    ‘And what if we get off on that shit?’
    I look at Zeb, and as my V.P. he should at least pretend to back me up on this one, but he don’t seem in a hurry to do that. ‘I ain’t saying we suddenly turn into saints. But maybe it’s time to start distancing ourselves from the kinda crap we don’t need.’
    I glance around the table again, and I know I ain’t winning this one. And maybe there’s a part of me that, yeah, he’s tired of all the fighting and the repercussions. Maybe I’m starting to see a different kinda future out there. Shoot me. I ain’t entitled to change?
    ‘You seriously want us to think about this?’ Blade, my Sargeant-at-Arms, asks as I give the signal for them all to go. Church is over. ‘Cause I ain’t sure you got everyone on board here, Mack. I mean, where the hell did that come from, huh?’
    I trail a hand through my hair and sigh quietly. I need a drink now, a fucking big one. ‘I gotta lot on my mind, Blade. Guess not all my ideas are hitting the right shots here.’
    He throws me a look that tells me I gotta get my shit together, and fast, and maybe he’s right ‘cause I’m feeling a sense of déjà vu here I don’t fucking need. ‘You gonna be at Six later?’
    ‘Yeah. Just got a couple of things to finish off here first.’
    ‘OK.’
    ‘Keep an eye on